Problems at Nations Park force July event to be cut from five weeks to one

By Morgan WatkinsStaff writer

Tuesday

May 28, 2013 at 5:26 PM

Nations Park's first youth baseball tournament season since its grand opening in March was recently condensed from five weeks to one in July, forcing some teams to cancel their plans.

Newberry has high hopes for Nations Park, the 16-field baseball complex expected to bring thousands of players and their families to town for friendly competition and some sightseeing. But its first youth baseball tournament season since its grand opening in March was recently condensed from five weeks to one in July, forcing some teams to cancel their plans.

The abrupt change is concerning, but a last-minute scheduling switch shouldn’t have a significant impact on the park’s success unless it becomes a pattern, said John Pricher, assistant director of Visit Gainesville, the county and city of Gainesville’s tourism organization.

The park is in its first official year of operation, so people are likely to be more forgiving of something like this, he said. More than one unexpected cancellation by the park, however, could turn the word-of-mouth — which is vital for a new facility — negative.

“If this were to happen again next year and a different crop of teams have the same problem, I think it would be very concerning for the park,” Pricher said.

Nations Park staff did not respond to multiple calls for comment. The park is run by the company that operates Cooperstown Dreams Park in New York state.

It can be difficult for teams to change their plans with only a month or so warning, Pricher said. Players’ families may work at businesses that are strict about scheduling vacation time, making it difficult to swap those dates, Pricher said, and changing flights isn’t as easy as it used to be after you’ve already bought the tickets.

The county and city of Newberry both have financial stakes in the park’s success. The county is paying for a 20-year bond used to cover the cost of Nations Park’s construction through revenue from its tourist development tax, or bed tax, Pricher said.

The county’s interlocal agreement with the city of Newberry established annual performance requirements for the park, but the park doesn’t have to meet those requirements yet because it is in its ramp-up period since it is just starting out.

Keith Ashby, Newberry’s city manager, said he was told the tournament schedule was condensed because the park needs some renovations. The field’s operators told the city it needed to consolidate its summer schedule since it wasn’t getting the response from interested teams that it initially expected because of a couple infrastructure concerns.

Its irrigation system apparently needs some improvement because some fields had a couple issues, he said. Renovations to improve airflow are also needed because some visitors said it was too hot at the park. Possible solutions could include adding trees for shade or getting rid of some walls.

“That isn’t a surprise to me,” Ashby said. “This is Central Florida in the summertime.”

Last year, the park hosted events so it could give its facilities a test run and locate any problems.

One challenge that may have contributed to the lower-than-expected tournament registrations, Ashby said, is that Newberry hasn’t developed a reputation as a tourism destination yet.

To make Newberry a destination, the park must first partner up with already established Florida destinations like Walt Disney World and area beach resorts to provide sightseeing options for families using the park’s tournaments as a vacation trip, he said. Tourism packages are in the works.

“We’d be happier if we saw more numbers, but it is what it is,” he said. “We are fairly understanding that they’re going to have to get their feet under them.”

Neither the city nor the county had great expectations that the park would pull in big business immediately, but Ashby said he’s confident it’ll get there.

Joe Mulinaro, regional manager for Ripken Baseball, which has facilities in Aberdeen, Md., and Myrtle Beach, S.C., said he has received calls from some teams searching for a new tournament to participate in because Nations Park condensed its schedule.

Word-of-mouth is huge for baseball operations like Ripken Baseball or Nations Park, he said, although it’s hard to guess what the response might be to a scheduling change like this.

“There’ll be people right now saying, ‘That’s it. They’ve hosed me on this. I’m not going back,’ ” he said. “But there’ll be plenty of people who will say ... ‘We’ll move on. We’ll go again next year.’ ”

For tournaments like the ones Ripken Baseball hosts, teams usually make their plans six months to a year in advance, he said. In his personal experience, local hotels are often the most affected because they’ve probably blocked out rooms for the tournament and planned for that business.

Mulinaro said some of Ripken Baseball’s upcoming tournaments are already sold out, but he will try to fit in any teams looking for a new event because they’ve had to cancel their Nations Park plans. “There’s one baseball community,” he said.

Contact Morgan Watkins at 338-3104 or morgan.watkins@gainesville.com.

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